1979 What-might-have-been Atlantic hurricane season (Cooper)
The 1979 Atlantic hurricane season was the first season to include both male and female names, as well as the common six-year rotating lists of tropical cyclone names. The season officially started on June 1, and lasted until November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year in which most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The season was above average, with 13 systems reaching tropical storm intensity. The first system, Tropical Depression One, formed on June 9. In mid-August, Hurricane Frederic caused $2.8 billion in damages in Louisiana, making it the costliest Atlantic hurricane at the time. The most intense tropical cyclone of the season was Hurricane Henri. It tracked through the Lesser Antilles in early September, with the islands of Antigua and Montserrat being the hardest hit. The storm then strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane and passed north of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Hispaniola, bringing heavy rain to these regions due to the storm's large size. Henri was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the Lesser Antilles since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Henri then struck South Carolina, bringing high winds, flooding, and tornadoes to the state and surrounding areas. Overall, Henri caused 2,074 deaths and $1.9 billion in damages. Seasonal Summary ImageSize = width:800 height:240 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/06/1979 till:01/12/1979 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/07/1979 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_<39_mph_(0–62_km/h)_(TD) id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39–73_mph_(63–117 km/h)_(TS) id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_1_=_74–95_mph_(119–153_km/h)_(C1) id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.91,0.46) legend:Category_2_=_96-110_mph_(154-177_km/h) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_3_=_111-130_mph_(178-209-km/h) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.56,0.13) legend:Category_4_=_131-155_mph_(210-249_km/h) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_>=156_mph_(>=250_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:09/06/1979 till:11/06/1979 color:TD text:"One (TD)" from:19/06/1979 till:22/06/1979 color:TS text:"Ana (TS)" from:04/07/1979 till:10/07/1979 color:TS text:"Bob (TS)" from:18/07/1979 till:24/07/1979 color:C2 text:"Claudette (C2)" from:02/08/1979 till:05/08/1979 color:TS text:"David (TS)" from:10/08/1979 till:12/08/1979 color:TS text:"Elena (TS)" barset:break from:15/08/1979 till:17/08/1979 color:TD text:"Seven (TD)" from:16/08/1979 till:25/08/1979 color:C4 text:"Frederic (C4)" from:25/08/1979 till:28/08/1979 color:TS text:"Gloria (TS)" from:02/09/1979 till:04/09/1979 color:TD text:"Ten (TD)" from:02/09/1979 till:15/09/1979 color:C4 text:"Henri (C4)" from:06/09/1979 till:13/09/1979 color:C2 text:"Isabel (C2)" barset:break from:10/09/1979 till:17/09/1979 color:C1 text:"Juan (C1)" from:14/09/1979 till:21/09/1979 color:C3 text:"Kate (C3)" from:23/09/1979 till:25/09/1979 color:TD text:"Fifteen (TD)" from:05/10/1979 till:10/10/1979 color:TS text:"Larry (TS)" from:21/10/1979 till:24/10/1979 color:TS text:"Mindy (TS)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/06/1979 till:01/07/1979 text:June from:01/07/1979 till:01/08/1979 text:July from:01/08/1979 till:01/09/1979 text:August from:01/09/1979 till:01/10/1979 text:September from:01/10/1979 till:01/11/1979 text:October TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(617,30) text:"Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale)" Systems Tropical Depression One Tropical Storm Ana Tropical Storm Bob Hurricane Claudette Tropical Storm David Tropical Storm Elena Tropical Depression Seven Hurricane Frederic Tropical Storm Gloria Tropical Depression Ten Hurricane Henri Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Juan Hurricane Kate Tropical Depression Fifteen Tropical Storm Larry Tropical Storm Mindy Storm Names Since 1953, the NHC and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used a naming list that contained only female names. Throughout the years, feminist groups cited and criticized this practice, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Eloise in 1975. In May 1978, NOAA administrator Richard A. Frank announced that a list with both male and female names would be introduced in the eastern Pacific Ocean in that year and in the Atlantic by 1979, after he submitted a proposal to the World Meteorological Center (WMO). Storms were named Ana, Bob, Claudette, David, Frederic, Gloria, Henri, Isabel, Juan, Kate, Larry, and Mindy for the first (and only, in the cases of Frederic and Henri) time in 1979. The names not retired were used again in the 1985 season. The World Meteorological Center retired two names in the spring of 1980: Frederic and Henri. They were replaced in the 1985 season by Fabian and Horatio. Category:Past Hurricane Seasons Category:What-might-have-been seasons